This Week’s #HCWC #WCW: Shonda Rhimes

Each week HCWC will spotlight a woman within the Harvard community or beyond whose work and actions we deem to be “crush worthy.” We encourage you to participate in our #WCW via your various social media platforms by sharing the women we honor each week to bring light to their important work.

Who she is: Shonda is a television producer and writer who is best known for being not only the creator, but the head writer, executive producer, and showrunner of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. Her other projects include Private Practice, How to Get Away with Murder, and Seattle Grace. She has received three Emmy nominations, a Golden Globe, and multiple awards from the Writer’s Guild, Producer’s Guild, and Director’s Guild. She has also been named one of the Time 100 People Who Help Shape the World in 2007 and one of the Time 100 most influential people in the world in 2013.

Why she’s our #WCW: Shonda’s shows not only tell stories that validate our own real-world experiences, but goes to great lengths to make sure that everyone- women of color, the LGBT* community, people who feel lost and unsure of who they are- or in essence, people like us, are represented in her stories. Her leading ladies have often been women of color, from Sandra Oh in Grey’s Anatomy to Kerry Washington in Scandal, and this has revolutionized the way women of color feel represented in the media today. Shonda makes sure that everyone has a seat at the table when it comes to TV, and it makes shows feel real.